This is Big!

Just in time for Christmas, The Animal Store is running its first-ever online contest. As some of you may know, The Animal Store was named after the wonderful poem of the same name written by Rachel Fields.

The first stanza of the poem goes like this:

If I had $100 to spend,

Or maybe a little more

I’d hurry as fast as my legs would go

Straight to the Animal Store.

Now, you can win $100 to spend at The Animal Store. On Tuesday, December 22, one winner will be chosen at random to receive a $100 gift card to The Animal Store. All you need to do to win is to leave a comment on this post telling us the name of your favorite pet — past or present — and, if you’d like, what that pet means to you. To enter, just leave a comment below.

For a second entry, you can Twitter about this contest (please leave a separate comment below linking to your tweet). That’s a maximum of two entries per person (one comment; one comment about your tweet). Be sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win.

Our store is located in Lincolnwood, just north of Chicago. Out-of-town readers are welcome to enter and are eligible to win; we will be happy to ship anything you purchase with the $100 gift card, but please remember that applicable shipping charges apply and may not be charged to the gift card. Family members and staff should refrain from entering this contest and give someone else a chance to win.

One runner-up will be chosen to win one of our cool new t-shirts featuring an edgy version of our logo. Enter today — you can spend your $100 at The Animal Store buying a pet for a gift, or gifts for your favorite pet.

Good luck. And remember, gift cards are a great way to give a pet for Christmas — and they are much easier to wrap!

Our little maltese-poodle, Daisy, has made our transition to "empty nesters" easier. She is like a child, but, she doesn't talk back, goes where we want her to, eats what we give her, is extremely affectionate and is "perfectly perfect in every way". If all dogs/children were like her, more people would have them. She loves the Royal line which you always carry – not everyone does. mkheleneng at sbcglobal dot net

My male plakat betta fish is named Goby. He looks like a goby fish and has a unique personality. He's always "jumpy" and will nibble on anything that enters his tank. :] When I first bought him, I thought he was a female because he was in a sorority tank and was very very little. At that time, his name was Miss Goby…

My 3 year and some month old betta, Lala. She lived with a red-ear slider ever since we got her. She was the first betta that we ever got. Now we have more than 14 bettas male, and female (mostly male, only 2 females), of all kinds of breed. Just love em (:

As a kid, I had a mini lop eared rabbit named Thumper. He was a great pet who sometimes acted like he was human by trying to follow me inside. He was a sweet pet and lived for a very long time! We've had other rabbits but none were as wonderful as he was! Thanks for this awesome first giveaway!tech savvy mama at g mail dot com

What a nice giveaway! I'd give the gc to my mom if I won it, because she's been taking care of my cats Patty and Selma for the last five years. They brought me lots of joy for the 10 years they lived with us.

My heart is my 10-year-old Shih Tzu Mellie- who never fails to get excited when I bring her home a new squeaky toy. She's all curled up in a ball right now resting– I guess 10 hours of sleep just aint enough;) Thanks for the giveaway!

My family got a crayfish from the animal store one day and we named him Buddy. At the time, we did not know you were suposed to leave the molted shell in the tank and we had taken out the shell of a crayfish that looked just like Buuddy. Now, Buddy LOVED to climb plants and there were holes in the tank (for the filter so it would have enough room)just big enough for Buddy to climb though. One day, Buddy was gone! Several days later my brother Kevin was cleaning out some bins in his room with Mom when he picked a small shell up. "Mom, isnt this supposed to be downstairs?" "Kevin, it is downstairs!" was Mom's reply. Yes, odly enough Buddy had crawled into Kevin's room. -Ashley rudybear5@live.com

My favorite pet is Ivy, my ferret. She is my little bundle of furry evil incarnate, and her birthday is tomorrow, 21st December. Yep, my little Yule ferretling will be a whole year old. I love her. She is cuddly, outgoing, and likes having her picture taken. Unless it involves cute little hats.

I have, and have had, many pets over the years. I love my dogs, my birds, even my reptiles. The one that holds a special place in my heart, however, was a duprasi named Fred. Fred entertained and amazed our four children, and countless other children when I took him out to visit classrooms as the "mammal" in a Animals Have Class (the five major classes) program. He was unforgettable!

I love all 13 of my parakeets, but my favorite past parakeet was Cosmo, a blue parakeet I had for about 2 years. I saw him at the pet store and fell in love with him right away. One of his favorite things he enjoyed was to get a shower from me. He would close his eyes and tilt his head back so he could feel the drops of water fall to all over his body. It was very relaxing and calmed himself downpkt_83@hotmail.com